Editor’s Note
This article explores the significant shift in India’s traditional jewelry market, where trust and heritage are increasingly being built through digital platforms. It examines how hallmarking, brand assurance, and convenience are driving consumers online, signaling a new era for this culturally vital industry.
New Delhi: Once a domain of velvet-lined trays and neighborhood jewelers, jewelry shopping in India is undergoing a glittering transformation. What was long anchored in trust, tradition, and touch is now increasingly just a click away. India’s deep-rooted love affair with gold and diamonds is entering a bold new chapter – online. As digital platforms gain credibility through hallmark certifications, brand assurances, and seamless service, Indian consumers are warming up to the idea that buying fine jewelry doesn’t necessarily require a trip to the store.
And the numbers prove it. According to a recent FICCI-Deloitte report, 73 percent of consumers now begin their product discovery journey online – even for tactile categories like jewelry – while 53 percent still lean on offline stores to seal the deal. But the tides are shifting fast. The Indian jewelry market, pegged at USD 91 billion in 2025, is expected to reach USD 146 billion by 2030. And e-commerce platforms are set to claim a growing slice of that pie.
According to Siddharth Bhagat, Director, Amazon Fashion and Beauty, India, precious jewelry sales on the platform have surged 96 percent year-on-year, with gold and diamond jewelry, including lab-grown diamonds, driving the demand. Amazon’s jewelry segment, covering hallmarked gold, diamond, silver and lab-grown diamond collections, has registered a sharp rise in consumer confidence. With positive demand, the marketplace now has over five lakh styles from established brands such as CaratLane, PN Gadgil Jewellers, Joyalukkas, PC Chandra, Malabar Gold and Diamonds, and KISNA.
He noted that customers are increasingly choosing everyday-wear pieces in 14-karat gold, which has grown nearly 50 percent year-on-year, followed by a strong uptick in 18-karat jewelry. The platform also reports that fine jewelry now starts at Rs 2,000 for sterling silver and goes up to Rs 40,000 for gold and diamond pieces, expanding affordability and access to a wider audience.
Currently, online jewelry sales account for around 8-10 percent of India’s market, while over 85 percent of purchases still happen in stores. Although still small, online sales are growing fast and outpacing offline growth. This shows the market is moving toward a combined online-offline approach, rather than a competition between the two.
In a sign of changing consumer preferences, Amazon has launched several collections of lab-grown diamonds at entry prices starting from Rs 1,699, tapping into sustainability and price-conscious trends in global luxury. Bhagat said Amazon is the first and only online marketplace in India specifically focusing on this segment’s whitespace.
Online jewelry shopping’s transformation is being driven by multiple trust-building factors – BIS hallmarking, purchase protection, easy exchange options, and brand-backed authenticity. These have collectively demystified the once “offline-only” purchase, extending jewelry retail beyond metros into Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.